trailing of the sheep

have you ever seen 1,500 sheep parade down a town's main street?  if this something that you want to check off of your life's "to do" list, i would suggest going to ketchum, idaho's trailing of the sheep.

the back story: every fall the ranchers of idaho move their sheep from the summer grazing areas in northern idaho down south to...graze in the winter?  get slaughtered?  this was a little vague, so we didn't dwell on it.  for the past 14 years, ketchum and hailey, idaho, have had a little festival to celebrate this event, as well as celebrate the three main ethnic groups that are involved heavily in sheep ranching in idaho: peruvians, basques, and scots.  so there was a parade with lots of playing music and dancing and traditional costumes by these three groups:

(note that the bagpipes look like sheep!!!)

and then: the main event - the sheep!

the sheep were very well behaved and did what they were supposed to...thanks mostly to the sheepdogs that were hanging out with them.  i liked this guy because he looked a lot like the sheep.

and then they were gone!

fun note: before the sheep made their way down main street, willis proclaimed that sheep "cannot run" and that he can "move faster than a sheep."  i told him he was ridiculous, lily looked up facts on sheep speeds on her phone (apparently they have been clocked at 30 miles per hour), and after the sheep walked/ran/jumped [the crosswalks freaked them out]/made their way down main street, willis was forced to admit that (a) sheep CAN run, and (b) a sheep could beat him in a race.

this was an excellent way to spend an afternoon.